all posts contain spoilers unless stated otherwise.

Scream Season 2 Finale: “When A Stranger Calls” Review

This portion of the review is spoiler FREE. (Spoilers will be indicated with plenty of warning).

When I went into this finale I’d unfortunately seen some possible spoilers that gave away really big clues as to who the killer was, luckily I was able to look away in time so that the context wouldn’t be spoiled and I could go on enjoying the finale, which I very much did!

I will say my biggest complaint about the finale is that it didn’t seem to be long enough, it felt like the episode went too quickly, I definitely could have kept watching.

Saying that, the episode was well paced, involved a lot of moments I’d been waiting for for a while, and did a pretty decent job revealing the necessary details as to why the killer did what they did. There were still a lot of loose ends from throughout the season that unfortunately were not closed up in the finale. Although most of the characters get some screen time in the finale, some of their story lines went unfinished and there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered.

At the time of me writing this it hasn’t been confirmed whether or not we’re getting a season 3, which doesn’t bode well for the lack of answers, however, there is a chance that we are going to get a special in October (possibly of two episodes). The MTV Scream twitter account tweeted about it. Here you can see the tweet with an attached video, presumably from the upcoming special in October. DO NOT WATCH THE VIDEO IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE FINALE. It indicates that all the questions we had about season 2 will be answered. There was supposedly more information about this on “Scream After Dark” but I unfortunately haven’t been able to watch the after show.

Of course it’s up to you whether you want to get your hopes up or not, but I’m personally very excited at the idea of it. If they can finish the story during the special, and they do it well, I’ll be okay about not getting a season 3. Of course I’ll be upset, I love this show! I would very much rather we got another season, but I’ll definitely feel better about it if everything wraps up nicely. I’d rather see one of my favourite shows go out with a bang, than have a disappointing ending with too many loose ends.

I will say this season wasn’t as good as season 1 but it was still very well done. I never expected much because with slashers the main story is always going to be about a masked killer, well, killing people. This show is very good at working with the finer details, making you care about characters, and creating tension. I always feel like at the end of the season it’s clear they’ve planned it all so that in the end it all makes sense. There’s still a lot that needs to be answered or explained, but I feel like that was being saved for the next season. Hopefully if we don’t get one they’ll be able to explain it all in the specials.

Overall I love this season, it was very entertaining and although I don’t agree with certain decisions (e.g. the killing of some characters – who I won’t mention because spoilers), I was pleasantly surprised this season. I looked forward to watching it every week and I’m going to miss not having a new episode to look forward to for a while.

Everything below this point CONTAINS SPOILERS so if you haven’t seen the finale/aren’t up-to-date turn away now.

First of all can I just say… I’M SO HAPPY KIERAN IS THE KILLER. He was the only person I wanted it to be. I either liked everyone else or I felt like there was no logical way it could be them, but with Kieran there was a good chance it could work with him being the killer and I didn’t particularly like him. The only doubt I had was that he seemed to be a favourite among the writers, and I know that doesn’t always mean anything, but I was genuinely surprised when it was him.

Kieran’s transition when he realises there’s no pointing in hiding it anymore was so well done! It was a solid piece of acting from Amadeus Serafini and just showcased his amazing talent. Throughout the episode is behaviour was quite shifty/unnatural and all of that made so much sense after the final showdown and the truth was revealed. At first I was concerned it was down to bad acting, but it turns out it was down to some outstanding acting instead.

Seen as I’ve put out my thoughts on who the killer was (of course one of the biggest questions in the show), now I’ll talk about some other things I liked! There in no particular order to these, they’re simply written as they come to mind.

Brooke refusing to believe that Emma and Audrey could kill her dad and Jake. When Audrey hugged her it was clear that Brooke was a little uncomfortable because of that video, but I’m so happy that she knew deep down they wouldn’t do anything. I feel like it’ll put a strain on her relationship with Audrey, but hopefully things work out. From Stavo’s drawing that we see at the end it seems like they all stick together!

The Audrey and Emma date at the end. From a shipping stand point I personally ship Audrey and Brooke, however, I’m on board with the Audrey/Emma dynamic and relationship. It would only make sense that they would lean on each other after everything they went through, and it’s not hard to believe that that friendship could develop into more.

Brooke having dinner with Stavo and the Sheriff! The fact that she’s clearly been accepted into their lives was so lovely to see. I’m assuming her father’s house would have gone to her, but it would be nice to think that if it didn’t, or if she required some kind of guardian, that Stavo and the Sheriff might have opened up their house to her. Either way I was so happy to see that she was alive and well and happy at the end, instead of being left on a cliffhanger, not knowing her fate.

Noah not giving up on the Morgue. He’d decided on that before the finale if I remember correctly, but hearing his voice and knowing it was for the podcast made me so happy. If we get the specials and a season 3 I’d love to hear his “voice over” a little more.

Stavo getting upset over Brooke, finally confirming his feelings for her. It became clear that he cared for her before, but seeing him cry like that when he found out she was hurt, blaming himself for leaving the theatre, it only confirmed his feelings for her, and it made me so happy! It was heartbreaking, but also a great scene. Santiago Segura did an outstanding job, not only in this scene, but also at the theatre when Noah and Brooke were worried Stavo was the killer. Just the facial expressions alone portrayed so much.

Talking about that Tracy Middendorf who plays Maggie Duval had barely any screen time from what I remember, but the times she did she showed just as much through facial expressions and mannerisms than she did with words. They weren’t the only ones good at that, Carlson Young’s body language when Brooke is hugged by Audrey, Bex Taylor-Klaus’ facial expressions during the final showdown, etc etc. Every single person did a fantastic job this episode, their body language and expressions were so much more powerful and really added to the scenes.

The Noah and Brooke scenes! I’ve been wanting moments between them for so long and the fact that we got a couple in the finale made me ecstatic. I hope for many more in the future.

The Kieran/Emma and Billy/Sidney parallels. I did appreciate that the show didn’t seem to be tying to do better from the first film, it simply seemed to be trying to play homage while doing its own thing.

With that final showdown I liked the reveal of why/how Kieran was involved, mostly the fact that his story seemed to go all the way back to the beginning. I was so happy they didn’t go with him going crazy and being unable to cope with all the events so he started killing people too. I liked the fact that it was a much longer, deeper thing.

BRANDON. JAMES. When this was clearly becoming a thing I wasn’t sure if I wanted it to be, but now I’m so excited. The glimpses we got into the past with Brandon was very interesting, whether it be in the specials or a season 3, I think having the final story involve Brandon James would be a great way to finish the show.

There was so much I liked about the season finale! It made me laugh a few times, like when Emma grabbed the gun and ran off leaving Audrey confused for a moment. I liked the way that although Kieran was suspicious there were times where because of what they chose to show (or not show) it gave the impression that he had an alibi, they tried to apply doubt, especially with Stavo showing up, and Eli too. Although I personally never suspected either them even if they were both suspicious as hell.

The finale had loads of good bits in it and was generally well done, it just wasn’t long enough in my opinion, when it ended I thought “wow, it’s finished already?” Of course there were things beyond that that I didn’t particularly enjoy, I’ll list some of those below.

ELI. I was rooting for Eli from the beginning, I absolutely had so much faith in him. He was a bit strange, a little weird, definitely something up with him, but I never wanted him to the killer. When the penultimate episode seemed to point at him I was disappointed and hoping he wasn’t going to be revealed as the killer. It did seem a little premature showing us all of that information before the finale, but you never know. I was so upset when Emma shot him, but then he tried to get up again and was shot several more times. I doubt there’s any way he survived and I’m upset by that fact. I just feel like there was more potential, for me it wasn’t so much that he died, but the timing of it all.

The same was for Zoe and Jake. I will admit I wasn’t really attached to Zoe, I appreciated she was a strong character, but I didn’t feel like I’d gotten enough time to get to know her. With Jake I was starting to really liked him. With both of them (and Eli) I think what upsets me the most is that they had so much more potential that really could have been explored.

That’s it really! There is more I could list, like the unanswered questions, but that for example is hopefully getting sorted in October, so I’m trying not to focus on those kind of things if there’s no point getting upset over it. I feel like I’m not so hung up on the things I didn’t like because we’re potentially getting a couple more episodes soon so at the moment this doesn’t feel like the end.

Also other things I didn’t like were a little petty and not really big issues. For example, the fact that Kieran’s reasoning could have been a little better and less cliché. I was generally very happy with the finale and this season as a whole. I enjoyed myself watching it, I laughed more than I expected to, so I feel like the things I didn’t like weren’t worth getting worked up over.